Fabric reel

ABSTRACT

A reel for supporting a bolt of woven fabric includes an elongated flat core fabricated from an expanded synthetic resinous material and enclosed in an envelope of chip board or paper which completely encloses the core in free, close fitting relation and coacts with the core to define a durable, quality reel.

Unite States Patent Ballard et al. Feb. 4, 1975 [54] FABRIC REEL 3,286,828 ll/i966 Yovanovich 206/50 ,322,37 5 I967 W'l I 242 l 8.7 [751 Inventors Lee lfallardfirand 3,682,812 8/1972 242 /6 l x G. Harris, Mansfield, both of Tex.

[73] Assignee: Coit International Inc., Dallas, Tex. Primary Examiner Ge0rge F, Mautz Mar Att0rney,Agent, 0r Kenneth Glaser; PeterJ. Murphy [21] Appl. No.: 342,609

[57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl. 242/222 51 Int. Cl B65h 75/06 A feel for SUPPOYtmg a wove" fabrlc mcludes 58 Field of Search 242/61 118.7" 206/50 an elongated flat Core fabncated from an expand?d 206/51 synthetic resinous material and enclosed in an envelope of chip board or paper which completely encloses [56] References Cited the core in free, close fitting relation and coacts with UNITED STATES PATENTS the core to define a durable, quality reel.

1,659,282 2/1928 Scheffey 206/50 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures [III FABRIC REEL BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a reel for supporting and packaging bolts of fabric, such as cloth or woven fabric.

Fabric reels have been constructed in a number of ways by a number of different manufacturers. A number of these reels are constructed of multiple layers of various forms and sizes of corrugated cardboard, generally cemented together and enclosed in a paper sheath cemented to the corrugated cardboard, with the ends usually being enclosed by means of paper end caps cemented to the sheath. With this type of construction, the reels have substantial weight which adds materially to the shipping weight of bolts of material and therefore is a significant factor in regard to cost of shipping material. Additionally, considering the method of fabrication which involves cementing of the several components of the reel, the cost of manufacture is substantial.

Other types of reels are fabricated from corrugated cardboard or from solid fiber stock and are provided with voids within the core to reduce the weight. With these types of reels, the weight is reduced to some extent; however these reels lack sufficient durability and ruggedness. Particularly, the beam strength or resistance to bending is insufficient, resulting in bending or breaking of the reels and making them inadequate for the intended purpose.

Some special forms of reels are fabricated from molded plastic defining an open framework; however these reels are considerably more expensive to manufacture than the above discussed reels.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved fabric reel which is considerably lighter in weight than reels which are generally available for this purpose.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a lightweight fabric reel which is simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a lightweight fabric reel which is sufficiently rugged and durable and which has sufficient beam strength to obviate breakage of the reel during normal use conditions.

Still another object of this invention is to provide such a lightweight fabric reel which is well adapted to be constructed with a rectangular transverse crosssection, which is a desirable form for the support of bolts of cloth.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such a lightweight reel which is of high quality both with respect to construction and appearance.

These objects are accomplished in a reel which is fabricated from a core of expanded synthetic resinous material in the form of an elongated flat member, and enclosed in a free, close fitting envelope of inelastic sheet material defined by a sheath of sheet material wrapped around the sides and edges of the core and closed with a longitudinal cemented joint, and end caps of sheet material enclosing the ends of the core and cemented to the sheath.

The novel features and the advantages of the invention, as well as additional objects thereof, will be understood more fully from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofa reel according to one preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view as viewed from the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of one end of the reel, as viewed from the plane 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective end view of another preferred form of reel according to the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of one end of a reel, as viewed from the plane 55 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing illustrate one preferred form of reel according to the invention which is an elongated flat reel, rectangular in shape, defined by planar side, edge, and end surfaces and which, by way of example, may have the following dimensions: length 27 inches, width 7 inches, thickness 1 inch.

This reel is fabricated from a core 11 fabricated from an expanded synthetic resinous material formed as a parallelopiped of desired size. The core material may be material which is sometimes referred to as plastic foam or may be a material which is presently marketed under the trademark Styrofoam. Such material is of course very lightweight.

The core 11 is enclosed in a relatively close fitting envelope 12 which is preferably fabricated from a fibrous material or cardboard which is referred to as chip board, folding carton stock, or solid fiber stock. This solid fiber stock is inelastic, has sufficient tensile strength to resist pulling apart under tension, and is resistant to tearing. The envelope is made up from a sheet of the fiber stock having a body portion which is folded around the sides and edges of the core to define a sheath 13, which is closed along one side of the core by means of a longitudinal seam l4 cemented with a suitable glue or adhesive. The sheet also provides integral tabs for flaps l5 projecting from opposite edges of the sheet of fiber stock and which are foldable over the ends of the core to define end caps. The outer extremities of the flaps 15 are cemented to the sheath at 16 by means of a suitable glue or adhesive.

Prior to the assembly of the envelope to the core, the envelope material may be scored and pre-creased to assist in the formation of a close fitting envelope over the core in the final assembled relation. In this assembled relation, the envelope coacts with the core to provide a reel which is very lightweight, but which is a core of high quality and durability. The envelope, having inherent tensile strength coacts with the core having inherent compressive strength to produce the reel having the desired quality, overall strength, and durability.

FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawing illustrate an alternative preferred form of reel. This reel also includes a core 21 of expanded synthetic resinous material which may be identical to the above described core 11. In this case, an envelope for the core is formed by a separate sheath 23 which may be fabricated from a rectangular sheet of fibrous material such as heavyweight paper or the same solid fiber stock referred to above, with the sheath being closed along a longitudinal cemented joint 24 in the manner described. The ends of the core may be closed by means of end caps 25 fashioned from the same heavyweight paper, for example, and cemented at 26 to the sheath completely around the periphery of the assembly adjacent to the ends. Again, with this reel, the inherent compressive strength of the core and the inherent tensile strength of the sheath 23 coact to define a fabric reel which is light in weight and yet provides the desired quality and strength.

While fabric reels are frequently fabricated with rounded edge surfaces, it is desired that such reels be provided with a rectangular cross-section, that is providing sharp corners at the junctions of the side and edge surfaces which serve to provide better resistance to longitudinal movement of the bolt of cloth relative to the reel. This is particularly desired by users who wish to stand the bolts of fabric on end for display purposes. A reel constructed in the above described manner is well adapted for this shape since the core is readily formed with the desired rectangular crosssection.

Fabric reels of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are readily constructed by fabricating a core to the desired form, cutting the envelope from a sheet of solid fiber stock to the desired configuration and providing score lines and pre-creasing if desired, assemblying the body portion by wrapping and cementing the longitudinal seam and forming and cementing the end flaps to define end caps for the assembly.

Similarly the assembly of FIGS. 4 and 5 is fabricated by forming the core to the desired shape, cutting and forming the sheath from a sheet of desired fibrous material, wrapping and cementing the sheath along the longitudinal seam, and cutting, forming and cementing the paper end caps to the sheath to enclose the ends of the core.

What has been described are two preferred forms of fabric reels according to the invention both exhibiting the qualities of extremely lightweight, ease of manufacture, and high quality with desired strength and durability. Also described are methods for manufacturing these reels.

A particular advantage of this construction is that the quality of the reel, both with respect to construction and appearance, is higher than that of reels fabricated essentially from corrugated cardboard, yet the reels are substantially lighter in weight than most fabric reels which are presently available, and the cost of manufacture of such reels is relatively low.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A fabric reel of the type for supporting a bolt of fabric disposed around said reel, said fabric reel comprising, in combination:

a. an elongated central core of synthetic resinous material defined by a rectangular parallelopiped having a pair of opposed longitudinally extending major faces, a pair of opposed longitudinally extending edge surfaces, and a pair of end surfaces transverse to said major faces and said edge surfaces, the junctions of intersection of said longitudinally extending major faces with said longitudinally extending edge surfaces being sharp, welldefined corners; and

b. an enclosing sheet of fibrous material having a pair of longitudinally extending end portions; said enclosing sheet extending completely about said core in close-fitting, but nonsecured, relationship with said core, thereby to enable relative movement between said enclosing sheet and said core; said enclosing sheet having a contour at the said junctions of intersection of said longitudinally extending major faces and said longitudinally extending edge surfaces conforming to said sharp, well-defined corners, thereby to resist any longitudinal movement of the fabric bolt relative to said reel, one of said longitudinally extending end portions of said enclosing sheet overlapping, and being adhesively sealed to, the other of said longitudinally extending end portions.

2. The fabric reel as defined by claim 1 wherein said enclosing sheet further comprises end flaps for respectively enclosing the end surfaces of said central core and which are secured solely to other portions of said enclosing sheet.

3. The fabric reel as defined by claim 1 wherein said central core is of a plastic foam material. 

1. A fabric reel of the type for supporting a bolt of fabric disposed around said reel, said fabric reel comprising, in combination: a. an elongated central core of synthetic resinous material defined by a rectangular parallelopiped having a pair of opposed longitudinally extending major faces, a pair of opposed longitudinally extending edge surfaces, and a pair of end surfaces transverse to said major faces and said edge surfaces, the junctions of intersection of said longitudinally extending major faces with said longitudinally extending edge surfaces being sharp, well-defined corners; and b. an enclosing sheet of fibrous material having a pair of longitudinally extending end portions; said enclosing sheet extending completely about said core in close-fitting, but nonsecured, relationship with said core, thereby to enable relative movement between said enclosing sheet and said core; said enclosing sheet having a contour at the said junctions of intersection of said longitudinally extending major faces and said longitudinally extending edge surfaces conforming to said sharp, well-defined corners, thereby to resist any longitudinal movement of the fabric bolt relative to said reel, one of said longitudinally extending end portions of said enclosing sheet overlapping, and being adhesively sealed to, the other of said longitudinally extending end portions.
 2. The fabric reel as defined by claim 1 wherein said enclosing sheet further comprises end flaps for respectively enclosing the end surfaces of said central core and which are secured solely to other portions of said enclosing sheet.
 3. The fabric reel as defined by claim 1 wherein said central core is of a plastic foam material. 